Posted: Sun, Jan 7, 2018, 10:39 AM ET (1539 GMT)
John Young, commander of the first space shuttle mission and one of only 12 people to walk on the Moon, passed away Friday at the age of 87. Young died Friday night after complications from pneumonia. Young was a US Navy pilot selected in the second group of astronauts in 1962, making his first flight in 1965 on the first Gemini mission, Gemini 3, with Gus Grissom. Young commanded Gemini 10 and was command module pilot of Apollo 10, the "dress rehearsal" for the historic Apollo 11 landing. He commanded Apollo 16 in 1972, performing three moonwalks. He then commanded the first shuttle mission, STS-1, in 1981, and made his final spaceflight in 1983 as commander of STS-9. Young remained at NASA until his retirement in 2004.